Panama City and the Big Ditch

I’d like to say that I was excited about going to Panama City since it is supposed to be the most cosmopolitan city in Central America but I have to say that after over two months of traveling in this part of the world, I was looking forward most to having the trip come to an end.

We left really early from Santa Catalina in order to get to Panama City early enough for people who were planning to fly out the next day to see the Panama Canal in the afternoon.  At least we tried to leave really early.  Our van got a flat tire on the way to pick us up and came a little over an hour late.  Still, our connecting bus waited for us and we were able to get to Panama City by 2:00 pm.

We decided to meet a little later and head to the Panama Canal.  We went to the Miraflores locks and museum in what was light rain at the time we left.  We arrived, paid the $8 entry fee and went up to the observation deck.  At that point, Hurricane Miraflores hit and we kept going back and forth between torrential jungle downpours and semi-sun.  I took some photos and had some lunch – a semi-decent hot dog and a beer – but I can’t say that I was overwhelmed by the experience.  Not quite underwhelmed, but pretty much just whelmed.

After the observation deck, we went downstairs and watched the ten-minute Panama Canal movie, in English, and then we went to the Panama Canal museum.  Once again, whelmed.  The movie and the museum both spent way too much time and money showing off what the Panamanian government hopes to accomplish with the canal by 2014 (additional locks), and not enough time on the history of the canal and its impact on international trade.  But, whatever.

That night, the final farewell dinner of the trip was planned.  If you recall, I’ve never attended these in the past and I was undecided about attending this one until the final minute.  In the end, I decided to attend, I think mostly because I didn’t think it was going to be nearly as painful saying goodbye at this point.  Like I said, I was pretty ready for the trip to end.

We went to an Argentine restaurant and I was expecting some great steak.  I was pretty amazed when I arrived and I found that the only types of meat on the menu were Panamanian and American.  I had good steak – the American steak – but it still was a far cry from the Argentine beef I enjoyed in 2009 and I plan on enjoying in a few months.

 After dinner, about half of the group went out for post-dinner drinks.  I was up for the dinner but I really wasn’t interested in the post-game show.  Too many guys, not enough girls, and I knew that the people that I liked in the group would be around for another day or two and that we would all end up seeing each other again – at least the ones that I cared about seeing again.  I called it a night and contemplated what I was going to do the next three days in Panama City.  Meanwhile, there was the cliché last night hook-up within the group, but it didn’t involve me so there’s no point in my going into it here.  Rather, I’ll wait until the next entry and continue to talk about myself.  I like doing that.